Call for DNA testing to fight rogue 'pedigree' puppy breeders

Campaigners are demanding mandatory DNA testing of puppies in an effort to catch unscrupulous dog breeders passing mongrels off as pedigree breeds.

They say families looking to buy a pedigree dog increasingly run the risk of fooled by rogue breeders using fake pedigree documentation.

Now they have called for the Kennel Club, which oversees the registration of pedigree breeds in the UK, to introduce DNA testing of puppies.

The Canine Alliance says this is the only way of protecting pet buyers who are spending large sums on what they think are pedigree puppies from being ripped off.

“The only way to tackle the problem is to ensure that pedigree dogs are DNA tested for proof of parentage, as part of the microchipping and registration process, to ensure that pedigrees are correct,” said Jo Amsel, of the Canine Alliance.

Dog lovers and conscientious breeders shell out hundreds, even thousands of pounds, on buying a ‘pure-bred’ pedigree dog, assuming that their puppy’s Kennel Club papers and certified pedigree are legitimate.

However, the Canine Alliance claims unscrupulous breeders are beating the system by using underhand practices, such as registering two litters by two different dams - or mothers - to just one dam, hoodwinking new owners of the puppy’s true lineage.

A pedigree Chow Chow being exhibited during the second day of the 2017 Crufts show in BirminghamCredit:
Darren Staples/Reuters

Campaigners says that even just one dog registered by the Kennel Club with an incorrect pedigree can have a huge impact on the breed register.

In another case an Italian Greyhound called Lady Blue, who was registered as a pedigree Italian Greyhound, although DNA analysis of puppies from Lady Blue and her sister showed that one of the grandparents was a totally different breed - a full Chinese Crested Dog.

Despite that, the descendants of Lady Blue and Lady Andretti were sold as pure bred Italian Greyhounds at pedigree prices, and their descendants went on to have puppies registered with the Kennel Club as pedigree Italian Greyhounds.

In one Ms Amsel said: “The current registration system is open to abuse by puppy farmers and other unscrupulous breeders, who use the KC registration system to profit from fake pedigrees, just as in the case of the Lady Blue and her sister.”

There are no official figures for how many of the 235,000 puppies registered with the Kennel Club each year turn out to be mongrels rather than pedigrees, but dozens of people are understood to complain to the club every year about the legitimacy of their dog’s pedigree.

The Canine Alliance estimates that between five and ten percent of dogs registered each year - or as many as 23,500 - have suspect pedigrees or incorrect parentage. It also points out that the Dutch Kennel Club requires mandatory DNA testing.

However, the Kennel Club says DNA testing would not provide a foolproof guarantee of establishing if a dog’s pedigree is legitimate.

A spokesman for the club said: “Whilst DNA techniques are able to accurately determine correct parentage of a dog, the tests currently available are not yet able to define if an individual dog fits a specific breed standard, which is how a breed is defined.”

It said anyone looking to buy a dog should go to a responsible breeder, such as the Kennel Club Assured Breeders, who are monitored and inspected by the club.